![]() I guess it's not ALL bad - certain lack of parental knowledge has to take place in order for the teens to get themselves into trouble, right? - but maybe having so many at once felt a little like overkill.Īt any rate, Rix has a good thing going. Iris' parents weren't mentioned much at all. Samantha's parents conveniently disappear on an anniversary trip just when her ex-boyfriend comes back from juvie and Edgar Faye seems to be drifting too much in and out of reality to be much of a father to Anneliese. ![]() Cory's father is too busy with work to pay attention to him, Noah's mother appears to be addicted to the lottery. In A Strange Machine, however, it feels as if the story is littered with absentee/distant parents. I didn't quite notice this as strongly in his other books, everyone except the four teens had disappeared - though there was a hint of family dysfunction In God's Loophole and Eternity’s End, the Rockwell's parents had died (there were an uncle and an aunt) whilst Raedyn was a runaway, however there was the professor who was, in a way, kind of a stand-in parent/mentor]. Her vacillation between the two would have been a perfectly normal confused reaction of a hormone-driven girl with two simultaneous crushes (which can happen!) except for the drugs and her parents' awkward lack of protectiveness and absence, despite knowing that she has a problem.Īnd that brings up a YA trope Dan Rix has allowed into his book - absentee parents. Part of the reason could be her strange behaviour towards Cory's nemesis, Dante Laurenti (mmm delicious). On the other hand, Cory's crush, Samantha Silvers, felt a little like a throwaway character - as if she's just there to be his distraction in the book. (I'm suspecting two possible romances to emerge in the next book from the way it's being set up. His two side-kicks, Noah Wright and Iris Strasser (somewhat reluctantly), also manage to live in your imagination as they struggle through the pains of high school, Advanced Physics, and the way Cory bullies them both. ![]() Cory was a very well-rounded character - cocky and egotistical, sometimes even brash, and yet still vulnerable in areas of his life. It does Rix credit that his characterisation of Cory Holland is good enough that I really wanted to slap this idiotic teenager several times over. From there, Dan Rix works his quantum physics and time travelling magic, plunging Cory, Noah, and Iris into a crazy loop as they try to change the future in order to change the past. Cory Holland, computer whizz, spoiled rich brat, and all-round annoying jerk, (sounds rather like Tony Stark's playboy, philanthropist, billionaire?) then gets his hands on it after breaking into the school compound. Edgar Faye, the head of the project, closes down the jinxed project and donates the computer to his alma mater - Lakeside Upper. :)Ī Strange Machine starts off with the mysterious disappearance of Franklin Thomas, who walks into the prototype Chronos Quantum Computer and never comes out again. I've probably posted reviews of some of the books here already, but I thought I'd get them all on one page.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |